Help! Are these pullets or roos? I think they are EE's.

[Debnboyd]

We bought these EE's and they are super sweet but thinking the black and white one is a roo. Not sure of the brown one. They are approx. 5 - 6 weeks old. The black and white one is definitely the dominant one of the four we bought. Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

[hdowden]

the black and white is the only cockerel i see

 

[Debnboyd]

I was afraid of that... How can you tell?

 

[Panth]

do you see the pattern of the dots on the first chicken you pictured? If it was a black and white hen, that same exact pattern would be there only in black and white....having the colors in huge swatches like the white/black of the second pic is one sign of a roo in EE's.

 

[Debnboyd]

Thanks for the reply... how long do I have before the crowing starts? We aren't allowed roos where we live. When we bought them, they told us they were all girls.

 

[ChickenExtreme]

the black and white is the only cockerel i see

X 2, wing coloring and comb

 

[Panth]

here is an example: (I borrowed the pic of the B/W hen off the internet...don't shoot me)

the rooster pic is from my own flock.

 

[Debnboyd]

Thanks everyone for the help and feedback. My son is going to be sad when he finds out his chicken has to go. If we get another one tomorrow or Sat. to replace this one, are they young enough to immediately introduce another chicken into the group or will we have to separate them?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Thanks everyone for the help and feedback. My son is going to be sad when he finds out his chicken has to go. If we get another one tomorrow or Sat. to replace this one, are they young enough to immediately introduce another chicken into the group or will we have to separate them?

I would keep any new one separate for at least 3 weeks as a quarantine. You don't want to lose the ones you already have if the new one has a contagious disease that isn't apparent yet. After the quarantine, if you can, keep the new one separate, but next to or within the brooder of the older ones for a week or two. That way they can't fight, but can get to know one another. I sometimes use a dog crate for the new one within the pasture of the older ones.

 

[dretd]

Thanks everyone for the help and feedback. My son is going to be sad when he finds out his chicken has to go. If we get another one tomorrow or Sat. to replace this one, are they young enough to immediately introduce another chicken into the group or will we have to separate them?

Sorry you ended up with a little boy. Some crow very early (weeks) and some don't crow for many months. The forst efforts don't really sound like a rooster, so it will give you a window before someone figures out waht is making that sound!

I am not sure how many chickens you are allowed where you live. it looks like you have 4 in your batch. I wanted to suggest to you that having the 3 girls is a good mini-flock for now. I suspect that chicken-addiction will eventually seep in to your home and you will want to expand your flock-either because you want to add more, or because as the hens age they lay less and its nice to have younger, productive ones every few years (my take is to add 2-3 every two year for that reason, plus the chicks are so stinkin' cute).

If you are allowed more than 4, you may want to wait to add-in a new one because if you want to add more later, it is easier to raise and integrate a pair into the established flock.

Not sure where you were planning to get your other chicken from, but my rule is not to bring birds in from other farms for biosecurity reasons. There are diseases that can be brought in from other flocks, so if you do bring in another bird then you will be wanting to separate them from your girls so you don't unknowingly spread disease in to your flock. I would personally go out a month.